Traffic Signal Installation Delayed By Wait For Parts

May 19, 1985|By Fred Lowery, Staff Writer

A traffic signal scheduled to have been turned on last week at New England Boulevard and Lyons Road west of Boca Raton will be delayed a few days, according to Charles Cantrell of Palm Beach County`s Traffic Division.

The signal will be turned on when the correct signal heads are delivered, he said.

Work is progressing on a flashing signal at Limestone Creek Road and Indiantown Road west of Jupiter and should be finished by the end of the week, Cantrell said.

This signal, at the entrance to the Limestone Creek area, will be temporary, Cantrell said. It will be there until construction begins on an Interstate 95 interchange, probably about two years, he said. After that, Limestone Creek residents will have to use Center Street for access to their neighborhood.

In the southern part of the county, he said, construction has started on signals at Town Center Drive and Military Trail and at Boca West Drive and Powerline Road west of Boca Raton. The signals are expected to be completed by the end of the month. The signal at Westroads Drive and Military Trail in the northern part of the county should be completed in two months.

Construction is starting in the north county on signals at Indian Creek Parkway and Military Trail and at State Road A1A and Village Road in Lost Tree Village, Cantrell said.

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Val Sass of Boca Pointe, in her efforts to have a signal installed at Boca Pointe Drive and Powerline Road, asked what became of traffic studies at that intersection.

Cantrell said most of the required traffic counts were taken, but a broken hose on the counter prevented completion of 24-hour counts.

Those counts were scheduled to be completed by Friday, Cantrell said, and an evaluation of the intersection will follow that.

While it is the off-season and lower counts can be expected, seasonal counts will be factored into the evaluation, particularly on those important left- turn movements off Boca Pointe and Canary Palm Drives -- opposite sides of the intersection -- where counts were taken during the season, Cantrell said.

The intersection is considered an important one in the traffic scheme of that area of the county, Cantrell said, noting that completion of the study has been given top priority.

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Edmund Roberts of Leisureville-Delray said he pointed out two problems some time ago that weren`t addressed and he complains they still exist.

The most aggravating problem, he said, is at the entrance to his development, the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Via Flora. He said a utility crew installed a line in part of the right turn lane, applied some patching and left.

The result, he said, is a shortened lane, part of which is too rough to drive on.

With drivers slowing down in the main lanes to turn into a much narrower street with traffic bearing down in a 50-mph zone, the prospects are good for accidents, he said.

While he wasn`t familiar with the situation, Dave Smith of the DOT`s local maintenance office said it sounded like something his permits section needed to examine.

Roberts also said that the southbound lane of Military Trail, near the entrance to Bocaire, has developed a subsurface dip which, while it hasn`t broken the pavement, still presents a hazard.

Mike Bowman of the county`s Road and Bridge Division said a crew would check out the situation to see if repairs need to be made.

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Relocation of underground power lines which has disrupted traffic on Olive Avenue in downtown West Palm Beach for the past month will be moving to a new block within a few days, according to City Engineer Ron Schutta.